Longest Games in Jays History

After 5 hours and 32 minutes, the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in 16 innings last night, making it the longest game in Chase Field history. The game defeated the previous record of five hours, 14 minutes in 16 innings set on April 13, 1999.

How does this compare to the length of Toronto Blue Jays games? Here are the Top four longest games for the Boys in Blue.

July 28, 2005 – Home in Toronto, the Blue Jays defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 2-1. This game would be the longest game in terms of innings for the Blue Jays, lasting 18 innings. Present Blue Jays Manager John Gibbons was the winning manager and current pitching coach Pete Walker was the winning pitcher in the game. Due to a low score, the game only lasted four hours and 50 minutes.

April 5, 2012 – Last year when the Blue Jays opened their season at the Cleveland Indians, no one expected the battle that resulted. The game would last 16 innings and not only be the longest season opener in Blue Jays history but also in Major League Baseball history. Current Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia blasted a game winning three-run home run in the top of the 16th inning to win the game. The game lasted 5 hours and 14 minutes.

April 19, 2001 – 24,595 fans were present at Sky Dome when the New York Yankees came to Toronto. When the game ended at 1:00 a.m. the next morning, 5 hours and 57 minutes later, only 1,500 remained. Yankees’ Paul O'Neil hit the game-winning single scoring Chuck Knoblauch.

June 19, 1998 – The Blue Jays played their longest away game over 15 years ago at Camden Yards where they lost to the Orioles by a score of 7-4 in 15 innings. 47,012 fans cheered loudly when Rafael Palmeiro hit a three-run two-out home run to give the Orioles the lead and the win. Prior to the runs in the 15th inning, the last run had been scored in the sixth inning when the Blue Jays tied the game off of a Jose Canseco solo home run.

Honorable Mention: August 23, 1989 – The longest game played in Canada actually did not feature the Toronto Blue Jays, but instead, the Montreal Expos. The Dodgers defeated the Expos in 22 innings by a score of 1-0 on August 23, 1989. The game took six hours and 14 minutes to play and finished at 1:24 a.m.

What is your favorite extra-innings game? Do you like games that are long in length or extremely quick? Comment in the section below.

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